Who better to bicycle across America touting an active lifestyle than a would-be Indiana Jones whose passport stamps exceed his age?

At 26, Ventura native Chris Figureida has been to 30 countries; Saturday he set off on two wheels through the American heartland to raise awareness for the American Heart Association.

Figureida gave his first school presentation on exercise and health Friday at Will Rogers Elementary School in Ventura. His final destination Lubec, Maine is two months, 3,746 miles and 10 school appearances away.

"The message I'm really trying to get across is to engage the children and promote a healthy and active lifestyle," Figureida said last week before departing. "I'm trying to set a good example."

Figureida, who works in theatrical prop construction, approached the American Heart Association in January, three months after returning from a four-week, eye-opening trip to Africa.

"I've done so many trips now more than my share," he said. "It's definitely time I do it for someone else."

Figureida is funding the ride himself to the tune of about $7,000. "Cycle for Heart" is not a nonprofit, and Figureida is depositing contributions into a bank account intended for the association.

Two years ago, he cycled from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. But Figureida is not a cyclist.

"Climbing is my passion," he said. "Cycling I do it for the adventure. I like traveling this way."

Adventure became a way of life for the slight athlete six years ago, when he was punching the clock at his father's Ventura company, Trico Welding.

"I thought, I'm going to come in and check in at (age) 20, and check out at 65 and that's going to be my life.

"I basically had a midlife crisis at the age of 20," Figureida said.

He left his job and spent weeks traveling through the Southwest and into Colorado, where he discovered his internal mantra.

"Know who you are, know who you want to be, and follow your dreams" is Figureida's defining phrase, gracing his business proposal and tagging his e-mail correspondence.

"In a small nutshell, who I want to be is Indiana Jones," Figureida said, retrieving an olive-green fedora and perching it on his head for effect.

"I want to be Indiana Jones on the 'Travel Channel,'" he said, his hazel eyes smiling.

He must be getting close.

He's climbed to 19,931 feet on Nevado Chachani volcano in Peru. An ice axe sits on his bookshelf. Countries visited include Cambodia, Sweden and Kenya. His next trip: climbing Cerro Aconcagua in Argentina, which at 22,841 feet is the highest mountain in the Americas.

He's also a detail-oriented, self-labeled "Type A," who wrote a 19-page proposal for this trip, got a business license, designed a logo, hired a manager and public relations specialist and solicited in-kind donations such as a feather-weight sleeping bag and one-night hotel stays.

Most of the time though, he'll camp.

By Monday evening he'd pitched his tent off historic Route 66 outside Barstow. Since he's not allowed to ride on the interstate, his entire journey is along frontage roads and surface streets, navigated by GPS.

With the wind's help, he rode 91 miles in six hours Monday, exceeding his estimated daily average by almost 20 miles.

At major stops, including Indianapolis, St. Louis and New York City, local bike clubs will escort Figureida and his 2005 Trek 520 touring bicycle into their cities.

Ice axes and adventure caps aside, Figureida is rather mild-mannered. The part of his trip he was most nervous about was entertaining first- through fifth-graders for 40 minutes.

But the reception at Will Rogers eased his anxiety.

"The kids were crawling all over the bike," Figureida said from his cell phone Monday. "They loved it. Seeing the kids that was the reassurance I needed that I could actually do this."

On the Net: http://www.cycleforheart.org